Internal combustion engine



7, 1965 F. M. DU BOIS 3,200,800

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 27, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ff mi20 2| 25 INVENTOR FRANCOIS M. DUBOIS BY Jada/141% ATTORN S Aug. 17, 1965F. M. DU BOIS 3,200,800

INTERNAL COMBUS TION ENGINE Filed April 27, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fl q-89 us 9| 92 INVENTOR.

FRANCOIS M. DUBOIS m ulw ATTOR EYS United States Patent 3,2titi,80ti LITERNAL Cfih iii-USWGN ENGENE Francois M. Du Refs, 11% Park Ave, NewYork, NIiZ'. Filed Apr. 27, 1962, See. No. 1%,dil3 7 (or. iris-e4 Thisinvention relates to an internal combustion engine which is intended toreduce the costs of construction, operation, and maintenance of suchengines, and to be of increased efficiency.

One of the problems of motor manufacture concerns the making of abalanced crankshaft, the difficulty of which is multiplied in relationto the number of cranks on the shaft. It is an object of the inventionto provide a multi-cylinder engine with a crankshaft having fewer cranksthan is provided by any successful engine of the prior art. A particularobject of the novel construction is to elminate a multiplicity ofconnecting rods with their complexity of connections to cylinder andcrank.

Another object is to reduce piston wear on cylinder walls which ariseslargely because the thrust of the piston is not transmitted in astraight line to the connecting rod but always at an angle having asubsantially laterally directed component of force. Another object is toreduce wear on cylinder and piston rings and thereby to educe the numberof repairs necessary in the life of an engine.

Another object is to apply the novel principles of this invention to 2and 4 cycle engines and to engines which are charged by carburetor or byinjection, gasoline or diesel.

The objects of the invention are accomplished, generally speaking, by aninternal combustion engine having a reciprocable frame mounted formovement in a single plane, a plurality of pistons mounted in cylinderswhich are side by side and fire in the same direction, and which areopposed by similar pistons, means connecting the pistons to the frame,means to charge and fire the pistons together, and power transmittingmeans connected to the frame in balanced relation to the cylinders.

Another object of the invention is to construct an engine operated onthe novel principles which can be charged and fired by existing systemsof fuel supply, valving, and ignition. The invention will consequentlybe described in relation to what is novel omitting that which is knownand readily adaptable without invention to the novel construction.

In the drawings which are diagrammatic and illustrative,

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a simple form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the assembling of a plurality of powerunits on a single crankshaft;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a more complex engine;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a two cycle dieselembodying novel principles;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view and FIG. 6 is a diagrammaticelevational view of a modification.

in FIG. 1 reference numeral 9 indicates the engine block in which ismounted a crankshaft it having a crank 11 to which is connected a powertransmission means 12 in the form or" a connecting rod. The connectingrod is connected to the cross bar 13 of a frame which has side pieces14, 15 connected at their ends to pistons 16, 12,8, 17, 1Q,respectively, which are mounted, with the aid of piston rings 24, incylinders 2'1 21, 22, 23. The pistons 16, 11.7 are rigidly mounted atthe ends of side frame member 15, and pistons 18, 19 are correspondentlymounted at the ends of side frame member 14. All the pistons and theframe members 14, 15, 13 he in a single plane so that, when the engineis in operation the power of the explosions is delivered in a straightline without lateral components.

The cylinder heads are supplied with inlet valves 28 at one end and atthe other end, with exhaust valves 26 at one end and 27 at the otherend, and with spark plugs 259 for each cylinder. The cylinders 20, 22cooperate by driving their pistons in the same direction and cylinders21, 23 cooperate by driving their pistons in the opposite direction.

FIG. 1 shows a four cycle engine in which standard carbureting meanscharges cylinders .26 22 simultaneously through valves 2% and chargescylinders 21, 23 simultaneously through valves 25. Similiarly exhaustvalves 26 release the exploded charges simultaneously from cylinders 29,22 and the exhaust valves 27 release the exploded charges simultaneouslyfrom the cylinders 21, 23. Spark plugs 29 in cylinders 20, 22 are firedsimultaneously by known means and spark plugs 29 in cylinders 21, 23fire simultaneously. The cylinders 25%, 22 fire in alternation to thecylinders 21, 23. The power thrust of pistons 17, 19 is balanced byadmitting equal chrages and their effect upon the crankshaft is balancedby the mechanical position of the link 12 which is located on a linemid-way between the pistons 17, 19 The same is true, of course, for thepower thrust of pistons 16, 18.

When the engine of FIGJ is to fire in accordance with an ordinary fourcycle system, the cycle for the cylinders 2t), 22, in half turns, iscompression, explosion, exhaust, charge, and the corresponding cycle forcylinders 21, 2.3, during the same half turns, is explosion, exhaust,charge, and compression.

The crankshaft has a single throw or crank and requires only twobearings for its own mounting and one bearing for the crank. The singleconnecting rod 12 transmits all power to the crank. There are, thus, twoexplosions in the first turn of the crankshaft and none in the second.For some purposes this is satisfactory. However, the cycle can bearranged so that cylinders 231, 23 are charged in the first half turn,compressed in the second, fired in the thirdand discharged in thefourth.

In FIG. 1 the crankshaft is at right angles: to the plane of the frame.In FIGS. 5 and 6 it is arranged parallel to the frame. In this case theframe side members 14 and 15 are provided with rectangular offsetmid-portions i4, 15' which maintain the balance of the frame and admitthe crankshaft, the dimensions of the rectangular portion bengsufiicient to permit the reciprocation of the frame.

In FIG. 2 is shown a layout similar to that of FIG. 5 as to thecrankshaft but in which the crankshaft is provided with two cranks 61,62 which are connected by rods 63, 6d pivotally to frames 65, 66 whichare similar in construction to the frame 14, 15 of FIGS. 5 and 6. Theframe is connected at its ends to pistons in the manner described inFIG. 1. Frame as is also connected at its ends in the maner set forth inFIG. 1 but the cranks of the shaft being oppositely aligned by Thepistons of frame 65 will be at their compressed position at the left endof the cylinders when the pistons of frame 6-6 are in compressionposition at the right end of the cylinders. This arrangement providesfor one explosion for each half turn of the crankshaft. Thus the pistons67 being at the start of the power stroke, the pistons 68 have completedexhaust, the pistons 69 are beginning exhaust and the pistons '76 arebegining compression. There will thus be a power impulse at each halfturn of the crank. A bearing '71 sustains the central portion of theshaft and bearings '72, '73 sustain its ends. A single crank sufficesfor the operation of four cylinders.

. received way and at the same time. lltill is conveniently equal to thecapacity of 91 and 117 In FIG. 3 is shown a structure in which the caseof the engine 3d includes two sets of four opposed cylinders 42, 4 5,2-6, 5-8, lined side by side in a single plane in cylinders which areconstructed to fire in opposition to cylinders 41, 43, i5, 47; The framehas four connecting rods fixed at their ends to the pistons 32 to 39inclusive. The cycle for this engine, for the first half turn involvescharging for cylinders 42 and 48, explosion for cylinders 44 and 46,discharge for cylinders 41 and 4'7, and compression for cylinders 43 and45. In the second half turn cylinders 42 and 4t compress, 4d and 4-6exhaust, 4'7 and 41 are charged, and cylinders 45 and 4-3 are fired.

In the third half turn cylinders 2 and 48 are fired, 44 and 46amcharged, cylinders 31 and 4-7 are compressed, and cylinders 43 and 45exhaust. In the fourth half turn cylinders 4-2 and 48 exhaust, cylinders44 and 4-6 compress, cylinders 41 and 47 fire and cylinders 43 and 45are charged.

The oiling of the apparatus can be carried out in accordance with knownprinciples. In FIG. 6, for example, the crank case is provided with asump 7t? filled with oil which is splashed by the end of the crankduring its revolutions and by bafiie '71 which is added to the lower'end of the frame and is provided with inclined surfaces '72 whichdirects the oil toward the cylinders at the frames reciprocate.

FIG. 4 illustrates an engine casing in which the crankshaft 81 isrotatably mounted and is connected by crank 82 and link 83 to frame $4which has side members S5, 85 and centrally located rods 37, 88. Adescription of one cylinder will suffice inasmuch as the others aresimilarly constructed. Mounted on the end of rod 86 of the frame are thepistons 89, 9% which are in' the cylinders 91, 92, respectively. Thecylinder head 93 contains an injection nozzle 95 which supplies fuel tothe cylinder in accordance with standard diesel technique. Also mountedin the cylinder head is a valve 97 which communicates through a passage99 with the head of a cylinder lltBI which contains the piston N3 whichis mounted on the head of rod 87. A valve .111 is opened as the pistonN3 moves toward the right,

admitting air, and closed as soon as the piston reverses and moves tothe left. An opening in the side of the cylinder Th1 admits air exceptat the times when it is covered by piston 1%. As soon as the piston hascovered opening M5 on its travel to the left compression begins and theair is forced under compression through passage 99 past valve 97 intothe cylinder 91 above the head of the piston 89. The valve 97 closes assoon as a proper amount of air has been admitted for admixture with thefuel which has been admitted through injector 95. Compression thenoccurs atop piston 89, when compression becomes sufiiciently high, thefuel charge fires exhaust, and drives the piston 39 and frame 86 to theright, moving piston 11% with it. The piston 8? moves past the port I13and the burned gases escape. At the same time air which had filledcylinder 1M to the right of piston 11)?) is compressed and forcedthrough passage I15 unseating check valve It)?! and scavenging theburned gases from cylinder 91. A perforated plate .or a spring 130prevents the ball 1% from closing the passage The construction ofcylinder IE7 is identical with that of cylinder 91 and performs in thesame The capacity of cylinder together but it may be greater or lesserdepending upon the needs of a particular operation.

The two cylinders 92, 94 at the right hand end of the drawing aresimilar in structure and in function to those which have just beendescribed except that they are timed so that their power strokes will bein alternation with those of the opposed.

Shaft 87, 88 pass through sleeves I21, respectively, and are providedwith piston rings which cooperate with the wall of the sleeve to retainthe pressure within the cylinder Itii Within the cylinders. The checkvalve 199 is forced closed during the compression stroke of its adjacentpiston 89 and is opened by the pressure generated by the piston 1493 incylinder 1M. In this two cycle form of the invention there is anexplosion for every turn of the crankshaft, the cylinders at each endfiring alternately.

The advantages of the invention are numerous. In addition to those whichare stated above as objects of the invention, and which have beenattained, are these: The power stroke is perfectly balanced within thecapacity of carburetors and injectors to supply equal charges of fuel tocylinders of the same size. In all normal practice this results in aperfect balance. There are no pivots in the pistons, no piston pins, nobearings between pin and piston, and no direct connection between thepiston and the crankshaft. All motion is trans mitted to the crankshaftby the rigid frame and that motion may be transmitted by a singleconnecting rod. The frame need not be heavy because it is not subjectedto bending and twisting stresses from the pistons. Nevertheless, inapparatus designed for heavy use the side members of the frame, such as14-, 15 of the H frame of FIG. 1 may be mounted in guides which absorbthe lateral thrust which is imparted to the closed members by the link12. These guides may be located as at GG .in FIG. 1.

The principles of multiplication of units as indicated in the figuresmay be carried out as desired.

The engine is of internal combustion type, of either two or four cycles,uses a combustable liquid or a gas, is ignited by spark plugs or bydiesel principle and involves the principle of the balanced,simultaneous firing of a plurality of cylinders at each power stroke.The

construction is simpler than that of standard engines, the sources offailure are reduced and the cost of repairs is less.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodimens.

What is claimed is:

ll. An internal combustion engine comprising a crankshaft, a connectingrod attached thereto, an H-shaped, rigid frame attached to thecrankshaft, pistons fixed to the ends of the H, power cylindersenclosing the pistons, a fuel injection means for each said cylinder, anexhaust means for each said cylinder, the cylinders on one side of thecrankshaft being thus adapted to fire together, opposed'pressuregenerating cylinders intermediate the said pistons, pistons in theintermediate cylinders each cylinder of which has a'volume greater thanthat of a single power cylinder, conduit means connecting theintermediate cylinders to the power cylinders at one end of the pressurecylinders, conduit means connecting the power cylinders to the pressurecylinders at the opposite end of the pressure cylinders, and valve meansassociated therewith controlling the cycle of the engine.

2. An engine comprising a rigid frame mounted for reciprocation in oneplane, a group of three pistons in cylinders one one side of the frameand a group of three pistons in cylinders on the oppsite side of theframe, means connecting the frame to the pistons, the central cylindersof each three being of about the same capacity as the other pair in thesame group and being connected thereto at one end and at a midpoint ofeach cylinder of the pair by conduits leading from opposite sides of thecentral cylinders, valve means controlling the flow of gas from thecentral cylinder to the pair, port means admitting air to opposite sidesof the central piston alternately, and discharge port means in thecylinder pair, the compression stroke of the central piston in onedirection serving to charge the pair for firing, and the compressionaaoaeoo stroke in the other direction serving to scavenge the pair ofburned gases.

3. An internal combustion engine having cylinders arranged in oppositelydisposed groups, each of which contains several cylinders of which aplurality are power cylinders and another is a source of compressed air,means to fire the power cylinders of a group simultaneously means toforce air for combustion from the source cylinder into the powercylinders of a group as the pistons of the group move in one direction,conduit means to force air for scavenging into the power pistons of thegroup as the pistons move in the other direction, and means to injectfuel into each power cylinder.

The engine of claim 3 including a rigid frame interconnecting allpistons for movement together in the same direction, a crankshaftdisposed between the groups, and power transmission means operativelyattached to the frame and the crankshaft.

5. The engine of claim 3 including power transmitting means operativelyconnected to both groups of pistons.

6. An internal combustion engine having cylinders arranged generally inone plane and arranged in oppositely disposed groups, each of whichcontains several cylinders of which a plurality are power cylinders andanother is a source of compressed air, means to lire the power cylindersof a group simultaneously, conduit means to force air for combustionfrom the source cylinder into the power cylinders of a group as thepistons of the group move in one directions, conduit means to force airfor scavenging into the power pistons 0f the group as the pistons movein the other direction, means to inject fuel into each power cylinder,and transmitting means connected to the pistons including a crank shaftparallel to the plane of the cylinders.

7. An internal combustion engine having cylinders arranged generally inone plane and arranged in oppositely dispose groups, each of whichcontains several cylinders of which a plurality are power cylinders andanother is a source of compressed air, means to fire the power cylindersof a group simultaneously, conduit means to force air for combustionfrom the source cylinder into the power cylinders of a group as thepistons of the group move in one direction, conduit means to force airfor scavenging into the power pistons of the group as the pistons movein the other direction, means to inject fuel into each power cylinder,and power transmitting means connected to the pistons including a crankshaft transverse to the plane of the cylinders.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,658,698 2/28Wood 123-54 2,137,730 11/38 Smith 123-56 2,159,072 5/39 Beall et a112356 2,387,107 10/45 Appeman 12354 2,825,319 3/58 Harrer 12356 FOREIGNPATENTS 971,415 7/50 France. 1,056,016 10/53 France.

832,807 2/52 Germany.

FRED E. ENGELTHALER, Primary Examiner. RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Examiner.

1. AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE COMPRISING A CRANKSHAFT, A CONNECTING ROD ATTACHED THERETO, AN H-SHAPED, RIGID FRAME ATTACHED TO THE CRANKSHAFT, PISTONS FIXED TO THE ENDS OF THE H, POWER CYLINDERS, ENCLOSING THE PISTONS, A FUEL INJECTION MEANS FOR EACH SAID CYLINDER, AN EXHAUST MEANS FOR EACH SAID CYLINDER, THE CYLINDERS ON ONE SIDE OF THE CRANKSHAFT BEING THUS ADAPTED TO FIRE TOGETHER, OPPOSED PRESSURE GENERATING CYLINDERS INTERMEDIATE THE SAID PISTONS, PISTONS IN THE INTERMEDIATE CYLINDERS EACH CYLINDER OF WHICH HAS A VOLUME GREATER THAN THAT OF A SINGLE POWER CYLINDER, CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTING THE 